Otis Fishing Report UPDATE for September 29, 2023: We typically run through two cams for Overnights to piece together Otis’ night fishing time which correlates to our snoozles time (Oh, to be a bear instead!). Depending on time of year, we may choose Brooks and Brooks Low or Brooks Low and River Watch. Last night, Otis was last spotted in the River, and we opted for River Watch as last seen and Brooks as seen recently. No Otis.
Next steps are Riffles — our backup cam for its angle related to the Falls — and then chat. Yes. The Dreaded Basement. Dreaded only because Disqus is… well… you know. It’s Disqus. 😉 Riffles is running while we scroll all the way back to the last-posted Otis Fishing Report to see what we can see.
And there it is: A post. The kind of tiny treasure which causes us to scroll (and scroll… and scroll…).
Eight minutes after we posted last night’s Report, KMcBe posts a series of Riffles snaps asking who is that cute blonde bear behind 22 on the Lip. “That cute blonde bear” doesn’t typically stir much interest because we’re looking for a tall, blonde, and handsome bear, but “blonde” combined with “behind a bear on the Falls,” given the circumstances, does. We check the time and realize we’re rewinding 11 hours and 55 minutes. Better hurry! We’re on the cusp of losing that footage together.
And there he is. Unmistakably Otis!
Zoom in on this snap with the red squiggly un-circle shape, and see a bear with a clear Sheriff’s Badge on his right shoulder.
Look again here, without the red squiggly un-circle, to see what KMcBe saw.
In this snap — same space — No. 7. Otis!!
He’s at the Lower River at about 4:00 p.m. and behind the Falls about 5:45 p.m. Katmai time. So either we missed him heading to the Falls or he’s just a sneaky lil bear. 😉
We went back to just prior to this timestamp on Brooks and Brooks Low, and that was a no-go, no-show for our boy. We watched the footage following to about an hour on all three cams, also no-go, no-show.
So Otis got his steps in again, and what that tells us is that, if he’s trekking to the Falls to Snoozle, he’s not only napping back there — he’s fishing too. Otis knows what he’s doing, and we’re thinking he’s gotta be productive to repeatedly return to this space.
We then made the trek back to River Watch and didn’t spy our boy, and all that is a long way to rewind and say that we have nothing to add to the September 29 fish count of 11 DOAs.
We’re catching up on River Rewinds now from midnight today and will report back later. We *do* have some things to accomplish today unrelated to fish counting, so if you see something, say something — tags will be helpful to piece the day together (especially with Otis Sushi Bar Hopping these days)!
Happy Sunshiny Saturday and Wishes for Fishes to all! ♥
Bear cam images in this post are copyright National Park Service and/or Explore.org
